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Introduction to The Secret
Step One: Visualize & Emotionalize The power of mental concentration on a goal has been known for millennium. Concentration of the mind on God, a sound (mantra), an idea (koan or sloka), an image (yantra), a center of consciousness (chakra) or one’s breath is common to all spiritual disciplines. These methods are based on the principle that all power derives from Consciousness and mental energy is one expression of Consciousness. One of the crucial insights presented by ''The Secret'' is the importance of avoiding negative thoughts. In the course of pursuing a goal – whether it is getting out of debt, losing weight, curing a disease, getting a job or getting married -- we often spend more time thinking about the condition we want to escape or the possibility of failure than we do envisioning the goal we want to achieve. In the name of working on a solution, we become even more preoccupied worrying and feeling sorry about our problem. ''The Secret'' advises us that not dwelling on the negative is as important as focusing on the positive. Consciousness is power. Attention is energy. Whatever gets attention is energized. Whatever you concentrate the power of your attention on tends to increase. Problems such as illness and depression are negative formations of energy that grow and persist because of the attention people give to them. That explains why so many people find their problems increasing the more they try to solve them. ''All that we are is the result of what we have thought.'' - Buddha Mind is a subtle plane of existence. Things shape in our minds before they express in our physical acts. Before speaking we think. Before launching a project, we plan. The greater the mental preparation, the greater our accomplishment. Thinkers, poets, composers, writers, scientists, business people, inventors and professional athletes all know the essential role that mental concentration plays in accomplishment. The only valid question that may be raised is whether mental concentration is sufficient to accomplish any goal we decide upon, i.e. whether it really has the power to evoke a positive response from life (the universe). The Question of ‘How?’ Spiritually, Consciousness consists of two powers – the power to Know and the power to Will. In pure Consciousness, knowledge and will are united. Mental consciousness has the same two attributes – the power to understand and the power to will to act. In mind, the capacity to know and the will to act are separate and can work in isolation from each other. I may know something is good for me, but lack the will to do it. I may want something, but lack the knowledge of how to get it. The method of ''The Secret'' emphasizes the importance of mental will. It does not insist that we know how to achieve the goal we set for ourselves. It even suggests that we may be better off not exercising our minds on the question of ‘how can I accomplish it?’ But it does insist that we make a firm unshakeable decision of the will to achieve it. Some critics object that people who accomplish do not simply wish for things. Successful people formulate clear ideas and plans as to how they can achieve their goals. This is certainly often true. That is why many self-help programs urge practitioners to translate their goals into detailed plans of action. How can we reconcile this view with what is spoken of ''The Secret''? Is understanding how to achieve a help or a bar to accomplishment? Power of Imagination This dilemma can be resolved by the following principle: ''Wherever we have the capacity to mentally formulate a means of achieving the goal, visualizing the means adds conviction and power to the mental formation.'' The experience of Jack Canfield cited in ''The Secret'' supports this view. He decided that he wanted to raise his income from $8000 to $100,000. Then he tried to imagine some conceivable way in which that might be possible. He came up with the idea that it could be achieved if his book were written about in ''National Enquirer''. A month later a free-lance reporter who writes for the ''Enquirer'' approached him. Canfield used his mental imagination to supplement and reinforce his mental will. Einstein understood its power: "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." - Buddha The story of how Fred Smith created Federal Express and grew it to become a Fortune 500 company in record time confirms this view. Smith started out with both a clear idea and a clear plan for how to achieve it. While doing his MBA, he conceived of the idea of establishing a courier business that would deliver packages across the USA overnight in comparison to the three to five day delivery offered by UPS and the US Postal Service. His strategy was to establish a hub system at Memphis so that flights coming from all major cities could reach the hub before 2 am, unload their parcels for resorting, reload with items bound for their return destination and land back home early morning in time for delivery during the day. His objective and his strategy were inseparable aspects of the plan he executed and the results he achieved. Understanding can be a bar Planning works. The only question is whether the visualization of ‘how’ is always essential and always beneficial. Experience confirms that it is not. Many people have difficulty imagining how to achieve a goal that is very far removed from present realities. There is a proverbial story of a man who got lost while driving in a rural area. He stopped to ask a farmer for directions to his destination. The farmer replied, “There is no way to get there from here!” That is often the understanding of the [[physical mind]]. If so, it is better not to listen to it! A person earning $8000 a year may be able to realistically envision $18,000, but he may find the effort to formulate a means of earning $80,000 is pure fantasy. In such cases, the inability to imagine realistic possibilities or a personal sense of incapacity become a bar to higher accomplishment. Countless stories can be cited of people who fail to take advantage of magnificent opportunities that are offered to them, just because they cannot imagine themselves achieving at a much higher level. There are also many stories of people who accomplished tremendous results because they were determined to achieve, even though they had no idea how that achievement it would be possible when they started out. Shabir Bhartia traveled from India to Silicon Valley in the mid 1990s as a young software engineer with an aspiration to earn millions. After a few years working for others and hearing stories of so many people becoming millionaires in the computer industry, he decided that he must achieve that goal himself within a short time. He and a friend came up with the idea of Hotmail and sold it to Microsoft a few years later for $200 million. He knew what he wanted to achieve and willed it powerfully. Only later did he discover the means to achieve it. In 1961 when President Kennedy announced the goal of the US space program was to land a man on the moon and bring him back again by 1970, the technology had not yet been invented that could accomplish it. Reaching the moon was not an insurmountable object, but bringing him back again from the moon’s surface presented serious challenges. Yet America achieved that goal -- six months ahead of Kennedy’s deadline. When France, Belgium and Netherlands collapsed under the onslaught of the German army in 1940, Britain was left virtually alone to fight the Axis powers. A month after Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, the Germans commenced the intense day-light bombing of England in what became known as the Battle of Britain. Churchill delivered his stirring proclamation to the enemies of Britain and to the world: “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…” Probably no one in Britain or anywhere else on earth could honestly say that they knew how Britain could stand up alone and survive the German bombardment, let along win the war. Yet when Churchill spoke, few could doubt that he was absolutely determined to keep his word. He refused even to consider the possibility of defeat. He may not have known how, but he surely was determined to win at any cost. Churchill knew the essence of The Secret: “You create your own universe as you go along.” There are other situations in which a person powerfully wills for a result but has absolutely no way of conceiving how to achieve it. A cancer patient who is told by his physician that the disease is incurable cannot be expected to work out a solution in his mind, but his mental will to be cured may still be very strong and effective, if it is not interfered with. In such instances, trying to imagine the ‘how’ can limit the power of the mental will and reduce its effectiveness. Placebo Effect The New York Times carried a story on the power of placebos that clearly supports this view. In 1957 a patient named Wright was found to have orange-size tumors in his abdomen and was diagnosed with incurable cancer. Wright told his physician, Dr. West, about a horse serum named Krebiozen, which reportedly had been effective in treating serious cases of this type. The skeptical physician reluctantly agreed to administer the serum and was shocked to find that in three days Wright’s tumors melted away. Two months later Wright read medical reports that Krebiozen was ineffective. He suffered an immediate relapse. Recognizing the power of the patient’s mental understanding, Dr. West told Wright he was going to administer a super version of Krebiozen. Actually he injected Wright with water. Again the tumors miraculously disappeared. Wright remained in perfect health, until he read again that Krebiozen was ineffective. He died shortly thereafter. This is a clear instance in which it would have been better for the patient to simply believe he can be cured and not activate his understanding to confirm what the medical tests already shown to be true. The ''Times'' concludes: “Doctors who know this story dismiss it as one of those strange tales that medicine cannot explain. The idea that a patient's beliefs can make a fatal disease go away is too bizarre.” Rationality requires that we accept the empirical evidence and try to understand what made it possible. Is it necessary to know how to accomplish something in order to accomplish it? There is a principle behind the ''The Secret''’s ambivalence on this question. '''If you are capable of envisioning the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’, so much the better. If you are not, don’t let your lack of imagination dampen the height and intensity of your aspiration. There is always a way to achieve any goal. Even if we do not know how, the universe does.''' Emotionalize ''The Secret'' emphasizes the power of visualization, but it also makes clear that mere mental visualization is not sufficient to move the universe. The mind’s decision to accomplish has to be back by full emotional commitment. The mind has the power to decide. But the nervous and emotional part of our being, what Sri Aurobindo calls the ‘[[vital]]’, is the source of the psychological energy needed for any accomplishment. Mental thoughts carry clarity, not power. The body is the seat of power, but that power is locked in the physical form and inaccessible. When the vital accepts an idea from the mind, it has the capacity to release the power of the body to realize it. The vital is the live center of human existence and accomplishment. Everyone can recall incidents in which they decided to do something – stop smoking, exercise more, go on a diet, work harder, spend less – but their decision did not lead to action or results, because the mind’s intention was not backed by a commitment of the vital. "I decided, but my heart was not in it." The Secret says that in order to accomplish, you should throw the full weight of your emotions behind the decision. The English language has many synonyms that express different levels of human determination. Although precise definitions are lacking, we can see a gradation in the following sequence of psychological steps: thought, understanding, interest, conviction, intention, resolution, decision, will, commitment, determination, enthusiasm, passion, vital yearning, physical urge. These words present a psychological gradient from the mere idea of accomplishing something to the level of full, total passionate determination to accomplish. The further we move along that gradient from thought to urge, the faster will be the response and the greater the level of the accomplishment. How do I know when my vital-emotional commitment is complete? The best sign is when the thought of the goal generates an intense, cheerful, eager enthusiasm for action. As long as we are merely interested, willing or decided, we can know that the direction is set for the journey, but we have not yet generated the fuel needed to get there. Step Two: Universe Responds ''The Secret'' is based on the concept that the Universe is a conscious entity with the power to respond to human aspirations. Here is where the skeptics have a field day. Visualizing and emotionalizing is what people can do, but whoever heard of the universe responding? Some will dismiss ''The Secret'' simply because the concept of a universe that can respond to human aspirations is so foreign to modern scientific thinking. In fact every society has possessed knowledge of this fact in the past as reflected in their customs, stories, practices, values and in words such as luck, fortune, fate and destiny. All great literature and films – from ''Hamlet'' to ''Star Wars'' -- depict this phenomenon. Most high achievers in business, politics, sports and even science are at least partly conscious of it in their own lives. And all of us have experienced this innumerable times, without perhaps understanding or even being conscious of what was happening. But we live in an age of scientific materialism in which an empirical and positivist mind-set has persuaded us that all such occurrences are simply strokes of chance. Because a different conception of the universe is essential to a full understanding of how and why ''The Secret'' works, the following few sections examine in detail both the view of scientific materialism and an alternative view validated by personal life, history, literature, biography and spiritual experience. Materialist’s view of the Universe Western empiricism views Nature as a physical field containing living organisms and inanimate material objects. Modern science views life and consciousness as properties of individual forms, not as universal forces. To the materialist, the world is a creation out of inconscient, inanimate matter and energy resulting from the interaction of random chance and universal laws . Out of this inconscient, inanimate world, animate life forms and conscious human beings have somehow emerged due to a series of chance events, events so unlikely to occur on their own that they defy the laws of probability. Clearly there is no room for the conception of a conscious or responsive universe in this worldview. Oddly enough, the greatest challenge to the materialist mindset has come from where it might be least expected – from the masters of matter – the physicists. Quantum theorists have observed the relationship between matter and the consciousness of the observer. Field theorists have begun to think of reality in terms of interconnected elements of a single continuous whole, rather than as separate, discrete, isolated parts interacting with one another. This does not mean that physicists will endorse the concept of a universe presented in ''The Secret'', but it is possible that their recent discoveries will ultimately lead them to rediscover an ancient truth known since the beginnings of recorded history, but recently forgotten or abandoned in an effort to reduce all reality to the formula of the empiricists. Concept of a Conscious Universe The conception of a conscious universe can be found in various Eastern traditions. The ''[[Vedas]]'', Indian scriptures which are far older than the ''Gita'', describe the universe as an ocean of conscious creative energy, ''hydra samudram''. Taoism is founded on the conception of a universal field or flow, the tao, and states that the outcome of events depends on how each individual aligns with the flow. It advices us to align our personal will with the universal harmony. Poets such as Wordsworth and Whitman have experienced and described this universal consciousness. [[Sri Aurobindo]] describes in detail this universal plane of Consciousness in [[Synthesis of Yoga]] and [[The Life Divine]], both written before 1920. He explains its nature and attributes, how and from what it is created, how it acts and how it is evolving, as well as the precise relationship between cosmic consciousness and individual consciousness. It is the human ego that creates the sense of difference and separation between the individual and the universe. Our individual consciousness appears to us as something completely separate from the world around us. Actually, the separation is only a physical appearance. Our thoughts, feelings and impulses are in constant communication with the universe and it is constantly responding to them. Our individual consciousness shares the same creative power and creates by the very same [[process of creation]] as the cosmic consciousness. Although the human ego feels dwarfed and insignificant in the face of the infinite universe, Sri Aurobindo states that to the universal consciousness, the individual is not insignificant. The universal does not judge importance based on size or quantity. Every individual form in the universe is an expression of the Infinite. The universe manifests its aspirations and powers in and through individual centers of consciousness. Fulfillment of individual aspirations is a means by which the universal consciousness fulfills its own evolutionary objectives. That explains why some individuals are able to accomplish extraordinary feats on a universal scale or with universal repercussions. The nature and character of the universal life is explored more fully in the portals on [[Spirituality]] and [[Life]] and in the projects on [[Theory of Creation]] and [[Pride & Prejudice]]. Life Response This universe, according to ''The Secret'', responds to our thoughts and aspirations. It responds to the qualities of our psychological energies by presenting that which is a complement to the vibrations we emit. ''The Secret'' refers to this mechanism as the law of attraction. Science has discovered a law of attraction between oppositely charged electro-magnetic particles. There is a universal truth behind this law that expresses differently in different planes of existence. Since reality is an integrated whole, it seeks to express that wholeness in every action. * Matter is rigid and fixed. Therefore, in the plane of matter the principle of oneness expresses as the attraction of opposites, which complement one another like the physical complementarities of the sexes. * Mind divides reality into fragments. Therefore, in the plane the mind, the principle of oneness expresses in the form of complementary aspects of truth that combine to form a greater whole, a more complete truth. The curious mind seeking knowledge attracts to it that which complements or completes what it already knows, often the form of a truth quite opposite to what it has already accepted. * Life is a plane of energy and will. The will is a vibration seeking completeness which is put out by the separate ego to the universe around it. The universe, which is the complement of the individual, responds in kind with a similar vibration. The capacity of our will to attract that which is in harmony with its vibrating frequency, is known as '''[[Life Response]]'''. At the very moment this paragraph was being written, a book arrived from amazon.com entitled ''The Science of Oneness'' by Malcolm Hollick, which also presents an alternative view of the universe based on consciousness. This is an example of Life Response. Consciousness has the power to attract that which it takes interest in, that which will complete it. The freelance reporter who approached Jack Canfield offering to write an article for ''National Enquirer'' was a precise life response to his thought and aspiration. One need not endorse this view of a conscious universe in order to verify the reality of Life Response. A close observation of one’s thoughts, attitudes and feelings during the course of a single day is usually sufficient. All who try to recollect key turning points in their lives will find critical events involving apparently chance or unbelievable coincidences. A book gifted by an acquaintance or falling off the shelf of its own accord becomes the occasion for a change of career or country. An accidental meeting brings you into contact with the future most-important-person in your life. A missed flight results in unexpected good fortune or a narrow escape from calamity. A full comprehension of the factors determining the nature of Life Response is a subject for a lifetime of study, but the fact that it exists can be ascertained by all who are willing for careful, unbiased observation of the events in their own lives. For a full discussion of the theory and principles of Life Response, see the [[Life Portal]]. For a detailed illustration of it, see [[Pride & Prejudice]] project. Analogy to Society Society is a good analogy for this universe. On the surface, human society appears to consist of a large number of individual beings and activities, each freely pursuing its own objectives. In fact, members of society share a common set of ideas, thoughts, values, beliefs, psychological characteristics, attitudes, aspirations, behaviors, ambitions, manners, information, skills, preferences, etc. Surely this commonality is not the result of chance. It is the result of the fact that even when we are most conscious of our separateness and difference from each other, our lives are all connected and we are made of the same stuff. This society is not only the source of our sameness, but it is also a continuous source of support. It is continuously throwing up opportunities and continuously responding to what we do. If we are successful, it praises us. If we violate its norms, it reprimands us. It places the collective discoveries of the past at our service, so each of us need not reinvent the telephone, TV, airplane or computer in order to use them. In fact, we need not even know how they work. It is enough we take advantage of the powers they place at our disposal. Society takes note of the enterprising and the talented by presenting opportunities for them to excel. It takes note of the lazy and the unproductive by pressurizing them to change. This society has no conscious center and seems to function without conscious intention. It acts and reacts in highly predictable ways by means of gossip, rumor, popularity, status and countless other mechanisms, apparently without conscious intention or initiative. ''The Secret'' characterizes the universe as a genii waiting to fulfill our wishes. This is an oversimplification similar to saying that society exists only to fulfill the wishes of each of its individual citizens. In fact, society has its own aims and objectives which are expressions of a subconscious social will. Society extends support to its individual members in the measure their aims and actions are in consonance with its own larger purpose. Today societies around the world aspire for the education of all their citizens, for better communication, transportation, greater freedom, prosperity, economic security, comforts of life. The aspirations of most individuals are an expression of the social aspiration and fully in harmony with it, so the society supports the pursuit of these aims by its members. But that was not always true. Not long ago, those who aspired for wealth, education, higher status or more freedom were frowned upon or rejected. ''Pride & Prejudice'' depicts a period 200 years ago when those of lower social origin were looked down upon for seeking to rise in society. Only landholding males could vote in England until after 1850 and English women did not win suffrage till 1920. Today, most modern societies extend a helping and protective hand to the poor, women, minorities, and even the physically impaired. The individual is not merely a beneficiary of social largess. He is also an instrument for social progress. The individual is the instrument through which society introduces new ideas, attitudes and practices. The initiatives of pioneering individuals are mechanisms through which the collective fulfills its aspiration for change. The conscious thoughts and intentions of creative individuals give expression to new possibilities, which later spread from the individual to the collective. The conscious aspirations of dynamic individuals give expression to new impulses, which the collective wants to encourage. Successful entrepreneurs are heroes in most countries today, because they express the aspiration of society for greater individual initiative and accomplishment. The conscious will of the individual does matter, because it is an expression of and representative of the subconscious will of society. Society speaks to itself in and through its outspoken individuals and it responds to what they say. For a complete discussion of the role of the individual in social development, see [[Social Development Theory | Social Development]]. The Aim of the Universe What is true for society is also true for the wider life of the universe. As the society has a subconscious aspiration for its own development, which includes that of its individual members, the universal consciousness also has a subconscious aspiration for its own evolution, an evolution of consciousness, which includes the evolution of conscious human beings. The universe is working out this aim in and through the actions and lives of countless individual. For a fuller discussion, see [[Spiritual Evolution]]. The consciousness of the individual is an expression of that universal consciousness. The individual responds to its subconscious intention and gives conscious expression to it. As the power for accomplishment in society is the power of the society which it lends to the individual for use, so too '''the power for accomplishment in life is the power of the universal life which lends itself to the individual for use.''' Individual will is one expression of the will of the universal life. So long as it is in harmony with that wider will, life responds to the individual will. The clearer the objective the individual formulates, the more intense the will with which the individual aspires, the greater is the response of the universe to the individual. '''When the mind tries to conceive of the immensity of the universe and relate to it, it expands and is lifted above the surface consciousness into the Timeless plane. The power released by that wider conception and identification with the universe supplies the energy needed for accomplishment.''' Step Three: Alignment and Action The last step involves tuning in and aligning yourself with the universe, being alert and receptive to what comes, so that regardless of the form or the apparent hazards, you do not let the opening pass by. '''Your thoughts and feelings are in alignment with what you seek when they are entirely positive.''' Exhaustive Effort There appears to be some difference of opinion as to the importance of taking action to achieve the goal. Some practitioners of this method emphasize the importance of attuning oneself and waiting for events to unfold. Others stress the importance of action. They insist that anything good comes by effort and once the opportunity shows itself, the rest is up to you. They affirm the most practical of all Western values, hard work. The success stories cited almost all involve a series of actions that led to the accomplishment. The apparent contradiction between these positions is resolved when we recognize that there are various types and levels of personal effort. The essential truth of step three can be summarized by the principle: '''Make an exhaustive effort.''' The only question remains what type of effort. Those who have attempted mental concentration know that it is an extremely demanding discipline. Every person who has accomplished in life knows the effort required to take a decision. Making up your mind on important issues can absorb enormous energy and leave you exhausted. Once you know what to do, committing the will to that decision can consume even greater energy. Taking a decision, concentration on the goal, mustering all your energy and enthusiasm to pursue it, releasing enthusiasm for the pursuit are psychological forms of effort that require even more energy and effort than physically action to pursue the goal. Action requires effort. Waiting patiently and cheerfully, refusing to take initiative until conditions are ripe, refusing to be anxious or disturbed, irritated or annoyed are also acts – they are psychological actions of immense power. '''Of the two, inner psychological effort is far more powerful and effective in achieving results than external physical action.''' Either way, the key is to exhaust one’s effort – inwardly or outwardly, physically or psychologically. The Secret places major emphasis on the psychological approach and suggests three powerful methods for creating harmonious alignment through an exhaustive inner effort to be at your best. These three methods are found at the heart of many spiritual disciplines – cheerfulness, faith and gratitude. Cheerfulness What could be so difficult about being cheerful? Its not difficult when we are in a good mood! It is extremely difficult when we intensely aspire for something to happen and find people or circumstances indifferent, obstructing our path or opposing our progress. '''Cheerfulness becomes a powerful method when you make a firm commitment to maintain it regardless of what happens. The cheerfulness referred to here does not just mean a calm, friendly and smiling demeanor. It means an unshakeable '''positive inner attitude toward people and events that occur around you, an incapacity for reaction, anger, impatience, annoyance, resentment, jealousy, frustration, or discouragement.''' Such an inner attitude has the power to align you with the most positive movements of life around you and to attract those movements to fulfill your aspiration. Working Faith Faith is a predominant characteristic of everyone who achieves anything. That faith may be in God, another person, in life, in law, in one’s abilities or one’s destiny or anything else. In the words of the Gita, “As is a person’s faith, so is his life.” The Secret is not preaching any type of religious faith or even faith in oneself, though either or both of these can be powerful aids to accomplishment. It specifically advocates faith in achievement of the goal. From the very outset, you should try to acquire an absolute confidence and conviction that you will, in fact, achieve the goal, rejecting all doubts, hesitations or fears of disappointment. But it goes even further. It says you should acquire such an intense faith in your ultimate accomplishment that you already feel now as you will feel when you have achieved the goal. Entrepreneurs achieve because they believe in themselves and their capacities. Practitioners of ''The Secret'' achieve because they believe in the method. The power in both cases issues from the belief. This attitude of faith is illustrated by a story from India about two spiritual aspirants intensely seeking to realize god. One was seeking God through knowledge by concentrating all the energy of his mind on the thought of God. The other was seeking God through devotion by concentrating all the energy of his heart on a passionate emotion for God. One day both seekers were informed by a wise man that they would realize God after another 100,000 births. The mental seeker felt disillusioned and hopeless at the thought of having to wait and aspire so long to reach his ultimate goal. The God-loving devotee responded differently. He expanded in joy at the thought that he would at some time in future actually unite with God. The very next moment God realization came to him. '''A joyous, unskakeable faith in accomplishment has the power to bring the goal instantaneously.''' There are people who have subtle faith in their health. Often it is a subconscious faith. When the doctor finds his efforts to cure them are in vain, a smile lights up their faces and they decline further medical help. When the medical help is removed, the innate health of the body asserts itself because of their subconscious faith. A middle aged woman with severe asthma suffered such a serious attack that her physician gave up hope of saving her life and withdrew. The patient removed the tubes providing her oxygen and quietly went to sleep. On waking, she found she had recovered, to the utter amazement of her physician. For the next 20 years she never suffered another serious attack. Something in her told her, “I know I will be all right, medicine or no medicine.” '''The method advocated by ''The Secret'' has the power to yield results, whatever the present position.''' When Churchill delivered his stirring speech in June of 1940, he was so determined to win the war that he literally felt as if he had already won it. He communicated that sensation to those who listened to him on the radio and they felt exhilarated. Churchill was a born hero, descendent of the First Duke of Marlborough who led the British forces in their historic victory over the French in the Battle of Blenheim. During his life he constantly sought out dangerous adventures without the slightest concern for his own safety. When confronted by the Nazi invasion, he did not think about the outcome. To him surrender was inconceivable. His intense aspiration and faith created the result in the subtle plane and it later became a reality. Gratitude The Secret says be happy regardless of what happens and maintain an unshakeable faith in your achievement. Then they add a third psychological method – feel grateful for what you already have. Gratitude is something we all learn to express in words, but to feel a real inner sense of mental and emotional gratitude is extremely rare. The author of a business book was nearly overcome with disappointment when the initial promise of success seemed to vanish in thin air. Late one night, he decided to offer intense gratitude to those who had been responsible for helping him write and publish the book. When he awoke the following morning, he received an unprecedented life-changing opportunity that became the start of a whole new career. That is the power of genuine, intense gratitude. Test the Method Here ends the lesson of ''The Secret''. It presents a method, provides a modicum of explanation, and then invites you to apply the method in your own life. It does not insist that you believe in the explanations provided. It only insists that you complete the three steps. It confidently asserts the method is infallible and unfailing. ''The Secret'' is not a philosophy or a religion. It is a practical method for accomplishment. It should not be judged on how rational or logical or scientific it sounds, but on whether or not it really works. Practitioners of ''The Secret'' report many striking life incidence which illustrate its power. Hundreds of similar incidents can be presented from personal experience, history, biography and contemporary events. But the only real question is whether it works and that question can only be answered by making the effort. We invite you to try it for yourself. Understanding how the theory works can make the effort more effective. Further sections of this article examine some issues regarding the method that are not raised in the book. ''The Secret'' is not the only method for accomplishment or the only way to describe the process of accomplishment. There are other methods or techniques that can be used to complement those mentioned in the book and make them even more effective. Further sections of this article also examine some additional strategies and techniques that can make the method even more successful. Many questions have been raised by people who have read the book or seen the movie. The article also raises and provides answers to several common questions that are not discussed in the book. Additional questions and answers by contributors can be viewed on [[The Secret Forum]] of Human Science. Those who would like to understand more about how or why The Secret words can refer to articles in the [[Life]] portal on [[Character of Life]] and [[Principles of Life]]. Those who only care for the result or the proof of the method are invited to make the experiment for themselves. Summary of Strategy The following are the conditions by which we can attune ourselves with the creative universal energy to accomplish in our lives: #Understand and comprehend the laws of universe. #Intensely aspire for what you want until the aspiration becomes a physical sensation. #Try to convert the aspiration into gratitude. #Generate intense, happy inner emotions in support of your aspiration. #Ensure that your decisions are in the 1st quadrant of the decision-making matrix or take steps to move to the first quadrant as soon as possible. #Your aspiration should reach the height of intensity and saturate your emotional being. The indication of that is one feels as if he has already achieved. #Be entirely positive and patient. #Shift entirely to reliance on the inner consciousness or the universal forces rather than dependence on external circumstances and events. #Shift away from the ego as far as possible. #Instead of seeking a personal goal, leave the goal to the universe. See also [[Message of The Secret | Message of ''The Secret'']] [[The Secret of Romance ]] [[The Theory of Luck]]] [[Secrets behind The Secret | Secrets behind ''The Secret'']] [[Unanswered Questions about The Secret | Unanswered Questions about ''The Secret'']] [[The Secret: Forum | The Secret Forum]] [[Secret behind The Secret Project | The Secret Project main page]]=